After some Penn State employees expressed concern for their safety yesterday, university police blocked the stairway to Penn State President Graham Spanier's second-floor office after anti-sweatshop protesters entered the building.

The police prevented about 50 anti-sweatshop protesters from going up the stairs in Old Main yesterday afternoon. The protesters -- several of whom were among the 31 students arrested during an anti-sweatshop sit-in on April 15 -- were calling for Spanier to approve the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), which would require Penn State apparel to be produced in Worker Rights Consortium-approved factories.

They entered Old Main shouting slogans including "Whose university? Our university!" and "Ain't no power like the power of the people, 'cause the power of the people don't stop. Say what?"

Vice President for University Relations Bill Mahon said the police were called because "a number of Penn State employees have expressed concerns for their safety."

"It might be intimidating to have a mob come in," he said.

"They can't come in and bully people, and that's what the mob did today."

Penn State Police Assistant Chief Clifford Lutz said the police blocked the stairs "to make sure everyone could freely express themselves while at the same time not disrupting the necessary business of the university."

Though the protesters left the building at 5 p.m. after Associate to the President for Administration Tom Poole informed them that the doors would be locked soon, Mahon said they would have been arrested if they had not left the building.

Before entering the building, the protesters held a rally outside on the steps of Old Main.

"The purpose is to condemn President Spanier for trying to silence student activists. The university community wants the DSP, and he doesn't listen to their voice," said Joe Lucarelli (senior-East Asian studies), a member of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS).

"Obviously, we've gotten a lot of new support," said Lucarelli, who was one of the 31 arrested. "The community's started to realize that their voices aren't being heard. This rally is for them to demonstrate that they do have a voice, and they care that the administration is trying to intimidate and silence their voices. It's pro-free speech, pro-ideas."

Some family members of the 31 arrested students attended the rally.

John Stugrin said he and his wife drove an hour and a half from Trout Run to attend the rally in support of their nephew, USAS member Aaron Troisi (graduate-crime, law and justice).

"What shocks me is that they're actually charged with criminal trespass," Stugrin said. "To punish that type of peaceful, civil disobedience is incredibly insane. It's just totally repressive."

Troisi stressed that USAS members will continue to protest until Spanier signs the DSP.

"He thinks we're all going to forget about this," he said, "but we're going to be here next year. As long as President Spanier insists on standing in the way of social progress, we're going to be on his doorstep."

Mahon said Penn State's attitude toward the DSP remains unchanged.

"We will not sign a blank paper document," he said. "It's a document that has no teeth to it for an organization that does not exist."